Splash News
At the 2013 Screen Actors Guild Awards, Rita Moreno added The Lifetime Achievement Award to her heavily populated display. That same night, Sofia Vergara also won an award as part of the Modern Family ensemble. In the 50 years since Moreno’s iconic role in West Side Story, things haven’t changed much for Latinos in Hollywood. Women have swapped bare feet and cascading skirts for high heels and mini skirts. Men have gone from playing fieldhands and gang members to... also playing dishwashers. White actors still act in brownface portraying Latinos as loud and ignorant. When are things going to change?
Latinos are 17 percent of the U.S. population and the largest minority group. Spanish is the second most spoken language in the world. And yet, Latinos are not widely represented in American media. The Spanish speaking populace has somehow become synonymous with ignorance on TV. When Latinos are represented they are often portrayed as violent, quick-tempered, and hypersexual. Case in point: Vergara’s character in Modern Family is prone to outbursts and is often half-naked, and the lion’s share of her jokes is about her trouble with English.
Penelope Cruz and Salma Hayek Are Different People!
Latinos come from countries in The Caribbean, Central America, and South America. These different countries are united by the Spanish language. This would be like considering people from Hong Kong, India, Australia, and the Bahamas one race because they all speak English and drink tea. The diversity of Latinos seems to perplex Hollywood. Penelope Cruz was listed as Salma Hayek on the Academy Awards Instagram page. Cruz is a 5'6" European woman and Hayek is a 5'3" Mexican. They may speak the same language but Cruz’s career is more similar to Monica Bellucci. Both actors had thriving film careers in Europe and were seamlessly incorporated into American casting. Hayek had to claw her way from playing prostitutes and stereotypical bit parts in Hollywood to getting a big break.
Market Split
Latin spending power is diluted between the Spanish-speaking and English-speaking markets. There are Spanish language networks that cater to recent immigrants and abuelas everywhere. They broadcast novellas, Spanish soap operas, and original programming. It can be challenging to try and unite Spanish-speaking and English-speaking audiences. Mainstream crossovers can be challenging because Latino celebrities are not widely known in America. Chasing Papi was an English-language Latino comedy featuring a young Vergara, and a who’s who of Latino celebrities. However, it was unable to resonate with American audiences.
Brown Face
In West Side Story, white and Latino actors were literally painted brown to distinguish them as the Puerto Ricans. Despite being Puerto Rican, Moreno had to wear dark make-up to play her own race. Many non-Latin actors have played Latino roles, with varying degrees of success: Hank Azaria, Johnny Depp, and Anjelica Houston have all played Latinos. There have even been white actors in historical representations of Latino history. Ethan Hawke played a Uraguayan in Alive and Ben Affleck’s character in Argo was based on half-Mexican CIA agent Tony Mendez.
As recently as Lena Dunham’s episode of SNL, non-Latino actress Cecily Strong plays a Venezuelan whose humor and conflict derive from the fact that she can’t speak English. With no Latino performers on SNL, characters like this seem insensitive. Plus, there's that accent — Strong's costar Kate McKinnon has played Latin characters and can at least do a convincing accent.
Key to Success: Play Another Race?
Moreno played Tuptim in The King and I. Almost 60 years later, successful Latino actors find more success playing outside their race. Dominican/Puerto Rican actress Zoe Saldana has found more commercial success playing characters identified as black and non-Latino. Alexis Bledel, Frankie Muniz, and Aubrey Plaza are all assumed to be Caucasian and often cast with Caucasian parents and relatives. Even Martin and Charlie Sheen found it necessary to change their name from Estevez.
Banished to Basic Cable
It seems like the most diversity exists on basic cable. It’s hard to believe that Wizards of Waverly Place is more representative of a modern family than the eponymous sitcom. It features a bi-racial Latino/American family. Everyone can speak English and the children still have a sense of culture. ABC Family shows like The Fosters and Switched at Birth include multiple series regulars that are Latino. The shining beacon on television is Brooklyn Nine-Nine. It has two Latin actresses Stephanie Beatriz and Melissa Fumero offering atypical and actually inspirational portrayals of Latinos. This is progress considering Beatriz played Vergara’s ignorant Colombian cousin in an episode of Modern Family. Check out how Beatriz describes her strong and accent-less role as success for Latinos.
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FOX
Plenty of actors have lent their voices to prime time animated series like The Simpsons or movies like The Croods and Toy Story. But it’s hard to imagine Saturday Morning Cartoons with huge stars. A lot of people are shocked to find out that the original voice of Shredder on the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles was Fresh Prince of Bel-Air star James Avery, or to recall which Star Wars veteran was behind The Joker. Perhaps you weren't aware of the big names behind some of these childhood favorites...
Captain Planet and the Planeteers
A group of teenagers use magic rings to harness the elements and to summon Captain Planet, an environmental superhero. Each episode, they battle villains trying to pollute the environment. Whoopi Goldberg voices Gaia, the spirit of the Earth and their boss. What a lot of children at the time didn’t realize is the show’s villains are all played by major celebrities. Meg Ryan is Dr. Blight, a disfigured doctor who works with a sarcastic British computer. Jeff Goldblum plays Verminous Skumm, a mutated rat creature with a fondness for toxic waste. Sting even appears on the show as the creatively named Zarm. Other villains are played by Hollywood veterans Martin Sheen, James Coburn, Malcolm McDowell, and Ed Asner. Major celebs also stop by for guest appearances including Danny Glover, Louis Gossett Jr., and even Elizabeth Taylor.
Gargoyles
This Disney cartoon creates a mythology where stone gargoyles come to life when the sun sets. It also has a bizarre Star Trek connection. Star Trek: The Next Generation cast members Jonathan Frakes and Marina Sirtis play series villains David Xanatos and Demona. There are also performance by other The Next Generation stars Michael Dorn, Brett Spiner, LeVar Burton, and Colm Meany. The captains of Deep Space Nine, Avery Brooks, and Voyager, Kate Mulgrew, appear on the cartoon. Nichelle Nichols even makes an appearance.
Batman: The Animated Series
Batman is probably the most star-studded cartoon in television history. The series features appearances by stars from the 1970s to today. 1970s icons like Adrienne Barbeau, Michael York, and Marilu Henner pop by the series. Bewitched actress Elizabeth McGovern plays her last role ever on the cartoon. Mark Hamill, a.k.a. Luke Skywalker, finds a career resurgence playing The Joker. Night Court’s Richard Moll, The Beastmaster Marc Singer, and Melissa Gilbert all bring 1980s nostalgia playing major characters. Bruce Wayne’s various love interests include Heather Locklear, comedian Julie Brown, and Supergirl Helen Slater. There are also appearances by future celebrities like Mad Men star Elisabeth Moss and Megan Mullally.
Superman
Similarly, this Man of Steel cartoon has a ton of television actors lending their voices. Superman is voiced by Wings star Tim Daly and Lois Lane is Desperate Housewives star Dana Delany. Sitcom stars Peri Gilpin, Brad Garett, and Joely Fisher all appear on the show.
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DreamWorks
For the bulk of every Rocky and Bullwinkle episode, moose and squirrel would engage in high concept escapades that satirized geopolitics, contemporary cinema, and the very fabrics of the human condition. With all of that to work with, there's no excuse for why the pair and their Soviet nemeses haven't gotten a decent movie adaptation. But the ingenious Mr. Peabody and his faithful boy Sherman are another story, intercut between Rocky and Bullwinkle segments to teach kids brief history lessons and toss in a nearly lethal dose of puns. Their stories and relationship were much simpler, which means that bringing their shtick to the big screen would entail a lot more invention — always risky when you're dealing with precious material.
For the most part, Mr. Peabody &amp; Sherman handles the regeneration of its heroes aptly, allowing for emotionally substance in their unique father-son relationship and all the difficulties inherent therein. The story is no subtle metaphor for the difficulties surrounding gay adoption, with society decreeing that a dog, no matter how hyper-intelligent, cannot be a suitable father. The central plot has Peabody hosting a party for a disapproving child services agent and the parents of a young girl with whom 7-year-old Sherman had a schoolyard spat, all in order to prove himself a suitable dad. Of course, the WABAC comes into play when the tots take it for a spin, forcing Peabody to rush to their rescue.
Getting down to personals, we also see the left brain-heavy Peabody struggle with being father Sherman deserves. The bulk of the emotional marks are hit as we learn just how much Peabody cares for Sherman, and just how hard it has been to accept that his only family is growing up and changing.
DreamWorks
But more successful than the new is the film's handling of the old — the material that Peabody and Sherman purists will adore. They travel back in time via the WABAC Machine to Ancient Egypt, the Renaissance, and the Trojan War, and 18th Century France, explaining the cultural backdrop and historical significance of the settings and characters they happen upon, all with that irreverent (but no longer racist) flare that the old cartoons enjoyed. And oh... the puns.
Mr. Peabody &amp; Sherman is a f**king treasure trove of some of the most amazingly bad puns in recent cinema. This effort alone will leave you in awe.
The film does unravel in its final act, bringing the science-fiction of time travel a little too close to the forefront and dropping the ball on a good deal of its emotional groundwork. What seemed to be substantial building blocks do not pay off in the way we might, as scholars of animated family cinema, have anticipated, leaving the movie with an unfinished feeling.
But all in all, it's a bright, compassionate, reasonably educational, and occasionally funny if not altogether worthy tribute to an old favorite. And since we don't have our own WABAC machine to return to a time of regularly scheduled Peabody and Sherman cartoons, this will do okay for now.
If nothing else, it's worth your time for the puns.
3/5
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Acting icon Peter O'toole has died at the age of 81. The Lawrence of Arabia star, who overcame stomach cancer in the 1970s, passed away at the Wellington hospital in London on Saturday (14Dec13) following a long illness, according to his agent.
O'Toole began his career in theatre, rising to fame as a Shakespearean actor, and starring in several plays including King Lear, Othello and Hamlet.
He made his TV debut in 1954, but landed his big break in 1962, when he scored the starring role as T.E. Lawrence in movie epic Lawrence of Arabia. He was offered the job after both Marlon Brando and Albert Finney turned down the role.
The film earned O'Toole his first of eight Academy Award nominations throughout his career. He also gained critical acclaim and Oscar nods for Becket (1964), The Lion in Winter (1968), Goodbye, Mr. Chips (1969), The Ruling Class (1972), The Stunt Man (1980), My Favorite Year (1982) and Venus (2006), although he failed to garner any wins.
Despite his bad luck at the Oscars, O'Toole was honoured with a slew of other accolades including four Golden Globes, a BAFTA and an Emmy.
He was also the recipient of an Honorary Academy Award in 2003, which he initially refused and asked bosses at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to delay the award until he was 80, saying he was "still in the game and might win the bugger outright".
The Irish actor was also known for his work in The Last Emperor (1987), Ratatouille in 2007 and on hit TV series The Tudors in 2008.
He is survived by his two daughters, Pat and Kate O'Toole, from his marriage to actress Sian Phillips, and his son, Lorcan O'Toole, by model Karen Brown.

Warner Bros.
Give Martin Freeman an empty room and he'll give you comedy. The best parts of The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey — an admittedly mishandled movie in large — involved his subdued grimaces, his Chaplinian waddling, and the way he carried himself with equal parts neurosis and snark in every scene. If there is one primary misstep of An Unexpected Journey's terrifically improved sequel, The Desolation of Smaug, it is the spiritual absence of Bilbo Baggins.
Freeman's good-natured but disgruntled Hobbit takes a backseat to the Dwarf team in this chapter of Peter Jackon's three-part saga, distributing the heavy lifting among the front lines of the bearded mooks. Thankfully, we're not shafted with too much "Thorin's destiny" backstory, instead focusing on the trek forward, through far more interesting terrain than we got last time around. The Dwarves voyage through a trippy woodland that'll conjur fond memories of The Legend of Zelda's unnavigable forest levels and inside the borders of Lake-town, a man-occupied working class monarchy that is more vivid and living than any place we have seen yet in the series. And while Unexpected Journey's goblin caverns might have been cool to look at, none of the quests in Desolation feel nearly as close to a tangential detour. Every step the Dwarves take is one that beckons us closer to the central, increasingly engaging story.
Desolation is not entirely without its curiosities. While Gandalf's mission to meet the Necromancer serves to connect the Hobbit trilogy to the Lord of the Rings movies, the occasional cuts over to the wizard's pursuits are primarily distracting and just a bit dull. Although we're happy to welcome the Elf race back into our Middle-earth adventures, it's easy to imagine a version of this story that didn't involve side characters like Legolas and Kate... I mean, Tauriel... and still felt whole (perhaps even more cohesive). The latter's love affair with hot Dwarf Kili seems like a last minute addition to the canon, and one not built on anything beyond the cinematic rule that two sexually compatible attractive people should probably have something brewing alongside all the action.
Warner Bros.
But the most egregious of crimes committed by Desolation is, unquestionably, the shafting of Bilbo Baggins to secondary status. Yes, he proves himself a savior to his fellow travelers four times in the film, but long stretches of action go by without so much as a word from the wide-eyed burglar. When he finally takes center stage in his theatrical face-off with Smaug — an exercise in double-talk reminiscent of Oedipus outsmarting the Sphinx — the film picks up with a new, cool energy, with a chilling fun laced around the impending doom of their back-and-forth. We've been waiting since the first frames of Unexpected to see how the dragon material will pay off, and it does in spades... albeit in the final third of Desolation, but with equal parts gravitas and fun, to reunite us with our Tolkien passions once more.
Benedict Cumberbatch's dragon doesn't do much to subvert expectation — he's slithering, sadistic, vain, manipulative, and vaguely Londonian. But tradition feels good here. Smaug's half hour spent toying with the mousey Bilbo (who does get a chance to showcase his aptitude at small-scale physical comedy here) is terrific in every way.
Its Hobbit problem aside, Desolation proves itself worthy of Bilbo's past proclamation. "I'm going on an adventure!" more than pays off here, in the form of mystifying boat rides, edge-of-your-seat efforts in dragon slaying, and the most joyful action set piece we've seen in years. Twelve Dwarves, twelve barrels, and one roaring river amounts for enough fun to warrant your trip to the theater for this latest outing into Middle-earth.
3.5/5
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This Park is Mine
Writer, designer, and director David Driver is one of those rare breeds. A true artist we like to call them. Today he tells us about his new web series, what it meant to work with the crew, being inspired by real life events, and what we can expect to get out of this hilarious journey he takes us on.
The series is on Vimeo: You can watch here.
What can you tell us about This Park is Mine?
It’s a comedy web series about a WAY overzealous park ranger (Nathan Phillips), who’s definitely on some spectrum of neurological uniqueness, and the deeply unlucky attorney (Kate McKinnon) who has to defend him in a court case. It’s set in the Brown Mountains, a region somewhere in the Northeastern US.
The ranger, Timothy T. Walters, has been charged with tazing a female park-goer after apprehending her ‘joyriding’ through his serene woodland habitat on a borrowed recreational vehicle. So his employer, the American Parks Corps, has assigned him an attorney, who has issues and challenges of her own. The show is about the collision of their lives – individual and shared.
Timothy is kind of like a pinball, careening through his life and knocking down everything and everyone in his path. Except, that is, for the woodland creatures he so loves. With them, he knows how to be.
Did you find it challenging getting the story across in only 6 three to five-minute episodes?
Yes, but in a good way. It was an interesting and exciting challenge. When we were shooting, we weren’t quite sure what the final format or breakdown was going to be, it was all TBD. That said, there is a lot more story there that didn’t end up on the screen. Maybe someday it’ll get revealed. Who knows.
Any hints on what else the Brown Mountains are hiding?
Oh my. A lot. I spend a lot of my time in a small town in the Catskills near the Pennsylvania border. But I’ll tell you, if you want to find genuine shenanigans, trickery and deception, the country is the place to look! Our town really is like Peyton Place (although I wonder if anyone even knows what that is anymore?). Lots of intrigue with the people and the local politics. It’s crazy.
So yeah, the Brown Mountains are filled with treachery, deceit, and drama. As well as a bunch of woodland creatures that need defending, and human visitors who need disciplining. And one Park Ranger who, by his very nature, can’t help but stir up sh*t wherever he goes.
What is the inspiration behind the webisodes? Where can we find them?
I had done some work for Sundance Channel, when it was launching a programming block called The Green. Laura Michalchyshyn, who was the president of the channel at the time, commissioned them. She later moved over to Planet Green – a channel devoted entirely to those same ideas. She and her team wanted to find new, interesting, unexpected ways to address them, and we started to talk about what we might do.
Simultaneously, some very close friends had a run-in with an actual park ranger while rafting on the Delaware River. One that, in hindsight, was extremely weird and funny, but at the time was mostly just weird – he was, by all accounts, a very odd and aggressive personality, who seemed more comfortable relating to the river itself than the people on it. He lectured them for more than an hour about river safety, threatened to bring legal action against them, then released them with ‘only a warning’ (although as it turned out they hadn’t done anything illegal). I mentioned this to a few people in the area where it had happened, and found out that our friends weren’t alone, quite a few different people had had similar encounters with a park ranger, in and around the same area. I have no idea whether it was the same person, for all I know this may be a Sasquatch-esque myth in the making – but the stories were so good! So when my producing partner Amy Hobby and I next spoke to Laura, we mentioned the idea of doing something based on this kind of character. She loved the idea and we went from there.
Much of what happens in This Park Is Mine is inspired by actual events. I wish we’d thought to have a thing come up at the beginning saying INSPIRED BY ACTUAL EVENTS. That always makes it more exciting, you know?
It looks like a fun cast you were working with. How was it on the set with Amy Miles, Kate McKinnon, Moe Angelos and others?
Fun is not a big enough word! It was fantastic. Amy Hobby and I were so lucky that we got the caliber of talent that we got – for we were working on a tight timeline and budget. Everyone was so up for the adventure though. Total pros. It was amazing what we accomplished in a few short days.
We did the whole thing in three or four days; but I wish we could have spent another month shooting and hanging out.
Any on set stories you can share with us?
The series was shot in a structured-improvisational format – we knew, as we were going to shoot each scene, what was supposed to happen and where we were supposed to get to, but we never knew quite how we’d get there. If you work with improv performers who really know what they’re doing, Kate McKinnon and Nathan Phillips are two very good examples, it’s incredibly fun to watch. It kind of makes me wish we could just include all the different takes in the final piece.
It also let us be pretty freewheeling about the story. Gwen Auburndale’s relationship with her semi-catatonic boyfriend just kind of popped up as an idea one morning. I proposed it to Kate McKinnon, who gave me a look that I can only describe as ‘withering’ – she was clearly appalled that we’d consider throwing an entirely new character and situation at her, about ten minutes before we were due to film it. I kind of loved that she was so forthright about how crazy she thought I was... I always prefer people to be straightforward, even if it’s awkward or whatever. Then she completely nailed the whole thing, in what appeared to be a pretty effortless fashion, so it all worked out great. I am a fan of hers.
Gwen’s boyfriend is played by Joe McGinty, who’s been a fixture on the downtown NYC music scene for years, he’s the mastermind behind a series of tribute shows called The Losers Lounge, which is about to celebrate its 20th Anniversary. He composed all the music for the series, using only ‘found sounds’ from nature beavers making dams, hummingbirds, bees, tree trunks cracking. So basically it’s an animal orchestra of sorts. We have an entire catalog of different themes ready to go, so here’s hoping that Timothy T. Walters has more (mis)adventures for us to score.
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NBC/YouTube
This week's SNL kicked off with a spoof of NBC's live broadcast of The Sound of Music. This cold open was what the show does best. Featuring a reprisal of Kristen Wiig's creepy character Dooneese, it was enjoyably self-indulgent and cameo crazy (Fred Armisen even stopped by). Cast favorites Kate McKinnon and Taran Killam capitalized on their chemistry as Maria and Captain Von Trapp. Opening with a piece this strong is a no-brainer. This sketch gets two tiny thumbs up.
When actor Paul Rudd was slated to host with musical guest One Direction, it raised two questions: Will One Direction play a comedic role on SNL? And how will the upcoming release of Anchorman 2 influence the show? These questions were immediately answered with One Direction already on stage with Rudd for his opening monologue. Having a history of being upstaged by SNL's musical guests, Rudd wasn't going to let a boy band keep him down. Instead he unveils his man band, composed of Anchorman 2 costars Will Ferrell, David Koechner, and Steve Carell. This builds to Rudd, his man band and One Direction all killing it with a heavily harmonized rendition of the classic "Afternoon Delight." Are we crying tears of joy yet?
The first 10 minutes of SNL featured appearances from five comedic giants, not including the host. This felt like the start of the best episode yet, that is, until it wasn't. Such an exciting start created a gap between the opener/monologue and subsequent sketches that could not compete. Instead of setting the tone for a great show, SNL shot their wad. Rudd is amusing to watch do almost anything, but instead of capitalizing on this they relied on it to carry weaker sketches like one where Rudd plays a soon to be divorcee who can't escape his song. The sketch was one of the few to not be released online (you can find it on the full episode), but it had a lot of angry chair-dancing as the only joke. Rudd's charm was more effective in the sketches "Michelangelo Unveils David," and the movie trailer parody "White Christmas," the most well-written pieces of the night.
Weekend Update would have been a stronger point if it wasn't for the character "Jacob the Bar Mitzvah Boy" amounting to almost no comedic gain. The short segment affected the momentum but did not totally derail the Update desk. Jebediah Atkinson (Taran Killam) returned, a hilarious critic character from the 1800s who debuted three weeks ago, to rip apart seasonal Christmas classics ("Charlie Brown, there's a pube on your forehead!"). This character is so enjoyable it makes sense to bring him back, even when the original appearance had more topical context (a retraction from that week from a Penn. newspaper).
This week's SNL ultimately amounted to an above average episode that could've been amazing. With Wiig, Armisen, Ferrell, Koechner, and Carell, along with Rudd and an already excellent cast, this episode had so much to work with that was not fully realized. Even when the Anchorman gang returned for the "Bill Brasky" sketch, the piece only landed because the people performing are so inarguably hilarious. Without that there wasn't much beyond four to five for the same character performing side by side. Comedy is the most impressive when a lot is accomplished with very little, but unfortunately the week's SNL did the opposite. Still, the cameos and high points alone make this episode worth watching.
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Lady Gaga/YouTube
Just this past weekend, we watched Lady Gaga take up the normal-est task in the celebrity trade: playing host on Saturday Night Live. All the mainstream stars do it (just about). Even Kanye West can bridle his derision for all things tangible to stop by Studio 8H for a night of good fun. So, we thought, maybe this means an end to Gaga's oddball streak. Maybe she's setting to rest her bizarre, outsider art nature to become another Patti Page. That's what we thought. But then we saw her new music video, "An ARTPOP Film."
Yes, it's peculiar... but perhaps only at first glance. In fact, we'd wager that — following her gig on SNL — this is Gaga's attempt at "normal." If you look closely enough at each one of the many incarnations she inhabits in the video, you might find a spark of familiarity with an old pop culture mainstay. Maybe Gaga has traversed the catalogue of the American zeigeist, plucking out fan favorites and bringing them to life in "An ARTPOP Film" in hopes of, dare we say it, being just like the rest of us. Don't believe it? Let's take a look.
The video opens around the 20-second mark, after a brief spoken intro by Gaga.
:20 — Here we see Gaga as Kate Middleton, quite apparently. See? That's pretty normal! Kate marked the summit of our society's attention this past year with her pregnancy and the eventual birth of the Royal Baby. Good start, Gaga!:34 — And look, it's Walter White's HAZMAT suit! Breaking Bad has been, undoubtedly, one of the biggest talking points in television, and Gaga's just trying to get in on the conversation. She... doesn't appear to know how to wear the suit, but... it's something.:36 — And while you're doing AMC, here's some zombie teeth a la The Walking Dead. You've got this, LG.:37 — A montage of shots of Doc Brown from Back to the Future, complete with fraying hair and that gadget that was supposed to make him precognitive. Plus, a quick glimpse at :42 of what kind of reminds us of that episode of Friends where Joey wore all of Chandler's clothes. A timeless cinematic classic and the most popular show of the 1990s. Outstanding, Gaga!:44 — ... Is... is she covered in dirt? Wait, that is dirt, right? Okay... okay. Minor slip up, but I'm sure she'll get back on the horse.:46 — There, that's better! She's... rolling around in the dark in her underwear. Kind of like Susan Sarandon in Rocky Horror. Not exactly the epitome of cultural normalcy, but at least it's a movie, right?:47 — Um. Well. She's got the Walter White suit on again, but now she appears to have replaced her face with mop strands. Vaguely reminiscent of one of the Reavers from Firefly, but... no, that's just wishful thinking, isn't it?:53 — Here, Lady Gaga is a washing machine. Those are normal, right?:56 — Okay, so that's kind of like a football uniform, were it made of tattered rags and the innards of a mummified pharaoh. But can we give her points for football?1:04 — There! Singing! Just a human woman singing! Huzzah! Things are really turning ar...1:11 — God dammit, she's Big Gruesome from Wacky Races.1:20 — And that appears to be her attempt at one of our society's everpresent, hypersexualized body wash commercials. A jarring one.1:28 — W-what? Wait, pause the video for a second. What... what is she... is she a fetus? Inside the womb of a transformer? Is that some sort of commentary on the destruction porn cinema to which we are exposing our children?1:29 — Is that Lucy from Twin Peaks? Kind of. Kind of? We'll take it.Still 1:29 — A disembodied synthetic hand. Maybe she liked Lars and the Real Girl. Maybe she likes dismembering things.Still 1:29 — Um...1:30 — Are there bees?Still 1:30 — Oh good, it's Big Gruesome again.1:31 — I'd be more comfortable if you put that scissor down.1:32 — We may have overlooked a theme here. Scissors, wigs... is this Gaga's stab at getting in on the hairstyle craze to which we all adhere so devotedly?1:34 — Oop, no, now she's Big Gruesome strangling a pillow.1:36 — Oh, Gaga, no, please don't cry. I didn't... I didn't mean any of it. I loved Wacky Races. I love bees.1:53 — Oh, maybe that's a go at Orange Is the New Black!1:56 — Hey, Walking Dead again! And bowling!2:00 — And that's Tangela, the least memorable Pokemon! Slipping.2:02 — Pirate. Pirates are always relevant.2:04 — That's not anything.2:05 — Okay, turn off Walking Dead, Gaga. It's not even that good anymore.2:06 — Who is that? Janis Joplin? Benefit of the doubt!2:08 — I'm getting a Jon Heder vibe.2:09 — ...2:10 — Good, more stray body parts.2:12 — Kind of looks like Zadie Smith, doesn't it? Benefit of the doubt!2:14 — Let's go ahead and assume this is an homage to the early King of the Hill episode wherein Bobby practices kissing on a mannequin head from his cousin Luanne's hairstyling class. Because that would be preferable.2:16 — ...2:17 — I'm getting a Black Swan vibe.2:19 — UNCLE FESTER! THERE IT IS! A RECOGNIZABLE, WELL-KNOWN, FAMILY-FRIENDLY POP CULTURE CHARACTER! BOOM! WRAP IT UP, GAGA, YOU'VE DONE IT! YOU'RE DONE! CALL IT A WIN!2:20 — Aaand now you're hanging upside down like a black while rave lights flicker around you in a terribly unsettling fashion.2:23 — I don't feel good.2:24 — Well, we tried.
So it turns out that Lady Gaga does not achieve pop culture normalcy with her new video, "An ARTPOP Film." And in truth, we don't want her to. We don't need Lady Gaga to cater to familiarity or our established parameters. Her entire identity is in the interest of the new, her mission statement is to show us things and ideas that we haven't seen. Not everybody is on board with the result, but everybody should be on board with the effort — to be daring, creative, strange. To be herself. Bravo, Gaga.
And it's catchy, too!
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Lions Gate via Everett Collection
When we last left our heroes, they had conquered all opponents in the 74th Annual Hunger Games, returned home to their newly refurbished living quarters in District 12, and fallen haplessly to the cannibalism of PTSD. And now we're back! Hitching our wagons once again to laconic Katniss Everdeen and her sweet-natured, just-for-the-camera boyfriend Peeta Mellark as they gear up for a second go at the Capitol's killing fields.
But hold your horses — there's a good hour and a half before we step back into the arena. However, the time spent with Katniss and Peeta before the announcement that they'll be competing again for the ceremonial Quarter Quell does not drag. In fact, it's got some of the film franchise's most interesting commentary about celebrity, reality television, and the media so far, well outweighing the merit of The Hunger Games' satire on the subject matter by having Katniss struggle with her responsibilities as Panem's idol. Does she abide by the command of status quo, delighting in the public's applause for her and keeping them complacently saturated with her smiles and curtsies? Or does Katniss hold three fingers high in opposition to the machine into which she has been thrown? It's a quarrel that the real Jennifer Lawrence would handle with a castigation of the media and a joke about sandwiches, or something... but her stakes are, admittedly, much lower. Harvey Weinstein isn't threatening to kill her secret boyfriend.
Through this chapter, Katniss also grapples with a more personal warfare: her devotion to Gale (despite her inability to commit to the idea of love) and her family, her complicated, moralistic affection for Peeta, her remorse over losing Rue, and her agonizing desire to flee the eye of the public and the Capitol. Oftentimes, Katniss' depression and guilty conscience transcends the bounds of sappy. Her soap opera scenes with a soot-covered Gale really push the limits, saved if only by the undeniable grace and charisma of star Lawrence at every step along the way of this film. So it's sappy, but never too sappy.
In fact, Catching Fire is a masterpiece of pushing limits as far as they'll extend before the point of diminishing returns. Director Francis Lawrence maintains an ambiance that lends to emotional investment but never imposes too much realism as to drip into territories of grit. All of Catching Fire lives in a dreamlike state, a stark contrast to Hunger Games' guttural, grimacing quality that robbed it of the life force Suzanne Collins pumped into her first novel.
Once we get to the thunderdome, our engines are effectively revved for the "fun part." Katniss, Peeta, and their array of allies and enemies traverse a nightmare course that seems perfectly suited for a videogame spin-off. At this point, we've spent just enough time with the secondary characters to grow a bit fond of them — deliberately obnoxious Finnick, jarringly provocative Johanna, offbeat geeks Beedee and Wiress — but not quite enough to dissolve the mystery surrounding any of them or their true intentions (which become more and more enigmatic as the film progresses). We only need adhere to Katniss and Peeta once tossed in the pit of doom that is the 75th Hunger Games arena, but finding real characters in the other tributes makes for a far more fun round of extreme manhunt.
But Catching Fire doesn't vie for anything particularly grand. It entertains and engages, having fun with and anchoring weight to its characters and circumstances, but stays within the expected confines of what a Hunger Games movie can be. It's a good one, but without shooting for succinctly interesting or surprising work with Katniss and her relationships or taking a stab at anything but the obvious in terms of sending up the militant tyrannical autocracy, it never even closes in on the possibility of being a great one.
3.5/5
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Veteran screen star Kate Mulgrew is set to open up about the daughter she gave up for adoption in a new memoir. The Star Trek: Voyager actress, 58, has landed a deal with publishers Little, Brown and Company to release an autobiography in 2015.
In the book, Mulgrew will reveal all about "the costs and rewards of a passionate life", including what drove her to give up the baby she had out of wedlock as she was trying to break into Hollywood. She will also share details about her emotional reunion with her child in 2001.
Mulgrew, who currently stars in Netflix series Orange is the New Black, went on to have two sons with her ex-husband Robert H. Egan.